Belarus has plans to significantly increase the export of pharmaceutical products to Uzbekistan, Belarus' Healthcare Minister Valery Malashko told reporters following his meeting with a delegation of health authorities of Uzbekistan, BelTA reports.

“Last year we exported $2.6 million worth of pharmaceutical products there. I believe that due to this visit our pharmaceutical exports to Uzbekistan will make up about $4.7 million in 2019. It is very important that we started setting up joint ventures, as this gives an opportunity to supply semi-finished products not only to Uzbekistan, but also to third countries, which means new markets for our companies,” Valery Malashko said.

According to Minister of Public Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan Alisher Shadmanov, the parties discussed cooperation prospects in the pharmaceutical industry. In his words, Belarusian pharmaceuticals have a substantial share in Uzbekistan's market.

The Uzbekistan delegation is in Belarus to study Belarus' healthcare practices, in particular, Belarus' efforts to improve public health management, provision of primary medical care and specialized high technology medical assistance, personnel training, retraining and advanced training. “Belarus is the region's leader in terms of maternity and child welfare. The country has been showing good results in this field for many years already,” Alisher Shadmanov said.

The delegation of the Uzbekistan Ministry of Public Health is on a visit to Minsk on 25-28 March. The visit is taking place in line with the agreement signed following the talks of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Tashkent in September 2018.

The delegation is set to visit Belarusian medical research centers and pharmaceutical companies, as well as Belarusian State Medical University.